Writing Piece Domain 3

On Monday I created my own lesson for our Core Reading lesson on latitude and
longitude. The lesson would teach the students about what features divide the world into
sections and they are hemispheres, longitude, and latitude. It was hard to come up with an
idea that was not just simply tracing over lines or drawing lines on a globe. Because of the
wonderful world of Pinterest, I was able to find an exciting and engaging activity for the students.
The students would each be given a map of a the world with key latitude and longitude lines
marked, along with the degrees. On top of 5 major latitude lines was a strip of purple paper, and
during the lesson students would label the each line with a label already created for them. Then
on top of 3 major longitude lines students will have a red strips, and will label each line with a
label already created by them. This activity would appeal to all different types of learners
because of the physical pulling back of the strips and also the color blocking.
This was originally was a great idea, but as we began the creation process we learned
that creating 44 of these takes a lot of time. I had originally planed on having 5 lines of
longitude, but with the extreme curve of 180* line it was very hard to line it up exactly. We
decided that our students could grasp the concept without all five. During the lesson there was
not a lack of understanding due to the loss of the two strips.
The lesson started out with the LEQ, which was what are the features that divide the
world? I took the time to allow the students to talk within their tables to come up with ideas on
what those features will be. I then went around the room asking students for possible features
they think they will be learning about today. I always think it is a good idea for students to
activate any of their prior knowledge before starting the actual lesson.
After we moved on to the introduction activity which was a grid worksheet, where
students had to find locations on various parts of a map. This map had a grid, but it was
numbers and letters instead of longitude and latitude. Before the students started the paper, I
asked students if they understood how to use coordinates to find a location. I was surprised to
see that a large portion of my class did not understand how to use a coordinate of E3 to find a
location. I had to demonstrate for my class how to do this process. Then afterwards most of
the students were able to complete the paper on their own, but I still needed to provide
additional scaffolding for a few students.
My transition to move into the lesson explaining that like the map was divided into
sections due to the grid, the world is divide into different sections by different features. The
students should start to get a glimpse into what they are going to be learning about in this
lesson. I first discussed how the world is divide into hemispheres. We first discussed the
Northern and Southern hemisphere, and what line divides the two, the Equator. I asked the
students if they knew what the top hemisphere would be called. Students answered the
question by raising their hands, and could answer the question correctly. They applied the
information they learned during the compass rose lesson to this lesson. Once we distinguished
between the two, they colored the southern green, and the northern yellow. Afterwards, we
moved onto the western and eastern hemisphere, and the Prime Meridian. The first question out

the students mouthes was what color are we going to color those? I then said would it make
much sense to color those hemispheres a solid color? Then then agreed and I said they would
place stripes over the western, and dots over the easter. This way they could see that the
northern hemisphere was covered by both the eastern and western hemispheres. Students
were then asked what hemispheres we are located in? The students were just answering at first
the northern hemisphere. I asked the class to respond with thumbs up or down if they agreed,
and I had a mix reaction. This allowed me to assistance the students who did not understand
that we are located in not one, but two hemispheres. I asked the class what design and colors
they see on the United States? They were able to reply that they not only saw yellow, but black
dots on the US, which meant that we were located in two hemispheres.
After we moved on to latitude lines, and I told the students that a way to remember
latitude is the word flat. With only that information, I asked the students to tell me what color
they thought their latitude lines were. They were given a minute and then I asked them to raise
their hands if it was purple or red. Most students with that reference was able to figure out that
their purple lines were latitude. I then went on to explain that these lines are imaginary and are
measured in degrees. This is where I began to talk way too much, and lost the interest of my
students. I should have started asking more questions because I know in the afternoon it is
hard to keep my students focused. Even though as I went over each line and allowed students
time to stick on their stickers, I lost the attention of my students. After the discussion about
latitude, I began the discussion about longitude. Again this was a struggle due to the lack of
attention from my students. I discussed that the Prime Meridian is zero degrees and then the
degrees fan out in both directions up until 180 degrees. Students did the same as they did for
the latitude, and labeled each line. Students were then given a ticket out where they had to find
a continent of which certain lines of latitude and longitude went through. This helped me check
in with the students understanding of the lines so far.
I ran out of time and could not sum up the lesson on how we use these features to help
us find exact locations on the Earth. The other third grade teacher and I both agreed that this
lesson could be separated into three days. One day given to just hemispheres, next day to
latitude, and last day given to longitude. This would allow for more higher thinking questions
and making the connections to the real world. I felt that my students were left with, so why did I
learn this? Even though we are taking time now to review these concepts, I felt that the delivery
could have been crisper. It was the first time this lesson was implemented, it is always a
learning process. During the lesson the students were suppose to write down the definition of
each vocabulary word on a worksheet. I decide to not even take time to do that during the
lesson because of the rate the lesson was going I knew writing would slow the lesson down
even more. I know that my students are not quick writers, and we are now taking a day to go
over vocabulary words. Over all the lesson was a success, and I was told that both teachers
would like to try it again next year.